Hello summer and hello summer break!
The school year has come to an end, the backpacks are tucked away, and suddenly your kiddos are home all day and you are trying to manage work, kids, life, and how to keep them engaged while still managing your load. For a lot of us summer brings more flexibility and fun, but it can also leave many moms, dads, and/or caregivers wondering how to keep their children engaged, learning, and moving while balancing the busyness of everyday life.
As a former educator, I want parents, grandparents, and caregivers to know that learning doesn't have to happen through flashcards at the kitchen table or structured worksheets every day. I would actually argue that some of the most meaningful and fun learning happens through play. PS there is science to back that too!!!
Whether you're juggling work, managing a household, squeezing in your own wellness, or simply trying to survive the endless "I'm bored" comments, summer offers numerous opportunities to combine movement, learning, and quality family time.
Activities that encourage both gross motor and fine motor development help children build important skills while keeping them active and engaged. Even better, many of these activities allow moms to move their bodies right alongside their kiddos, without adding another thing to the to-do list. Personally I love to kill two birds with one stone!
This summer, let's make movement fun, learning organic, and memories plentiful. Here are two simple activities that will help your child/children grow while helping you sneak in movement throughout the day as well as modifications/differentiation to help adjust for different age groups!
Alphabet Pool Party
This activity is a fan favorite in our house and can be differentiated for ALL learners! All you need are a few simple items and a body ready to move and groove!
Supplies needed:
For this activity, you will set up the pool and fill it up with water! While the pool is filling, take your chalk and write letters, decodable words, child's name, and/or sight words. When the pool is done filling, throw your foam letters in and get ready for the magic of the activity to happen. Based on the age of your child and the skill you are wanting to work on, will determine which activities you play! Below I have given you some ideas
Toddler
Draw five different colored circles and work with your little to grab a number or letter and sort by color. They will place the letter or number in the circle that matches the color. You can even count the number of objects in each set!
- This will work on identifying colors, sorting, and counting the objects in a set.
Preschool
Write your child's name and have them find the letters one by one in the pool and match to the letters written in chalk, moving from left to right. You can even have them count the letters in their name to work on one to one correspondence counting *This will work on their name, letter identification, and one to one counting.
Have your child pick and letter from the pool and match the letter from the pool to the letter written with chalk on the concrete. When they match the letter, have them say the letter name.
- This will work on letter identification and support early reading skills.
Call out a letter and have your child find and match the letter from the pool to the letter written with chalk on the concrete. When they match the letter, have them say the letter name. For an added challenge, you can have them say the letter name and the sound the letter makes!
- This will work on letter and sound identification and support early reading skills.
School Aged
Call out a letter and have your child find and match the letter from the pool to the letter written with chalk on the concrete. When they match the letter, have them say the letter name. For an added challenge, you can have them say the letter name and the sound the letter makes!
- This will work on letter and sound identification and support early reading skills.
Write a decodable word (a word that can be tapped out to read), and have your kiddo name the letters written with chalk, run to the pool and grab the letters needed, and then when they match the foam letter to the chalk letter they make the sound of the letter (from left to right). When they have built the word, they will blend and read the word.
- This will work on letter and sound identification, support early reading skills, and help children blend words to read.
Write a sight word (a word that CANNOT be tapped out to read), and have your kiddo name the letters written with chalk, run to the pool and grab the letters needed, and match the foam letter (from left to right) to the chalk letter. After they match it, they will read the sight word.
- This will work on letter identification and reading high frequency words.
Here is a video of what set up and participation look like!
Sponge Relay Races
This activity is another fan favorite in our house because it is centered around movement, competition, and water fun!!! The supplies you need are already probably lying around your house!
Supplies needed:
- Large car wash sponges
- 4 buckets - 2 large + 2 smaller
- 2 foam golf balls or ping pong balls
Set up: For this activity, you will have your two lines/relays set up parallel to one another. You will have your two larger buckets filled with water and place your car wash sponge in the bucket. You will then take your smaller buckets with the foam golf ball or ping pong ball and put them at the end/finish line.
The object of the game is to take the sponge filled with water, run to the smaller bucket, and squeeze the water from the sponge into the bucket! Going back and forth until the smaller bucket is filled with water enough to make the ball fall out! This is a great way for you parents/caregivers to get your movement in while interacting with your child/children.
For younger kids, you can do one bucket and work as a team to complete the challenge and model how to be a good teammate by cheering on one another! For older kids, you can make it a competition and verse them and teach them what it looks like to win and lose! This is a great physical and social and emotional activity to enjoy in the summer fun!
I can't wait to share more activities and see pictures and/or hear about how these summer activities go over for you!
